‘Portal Waiting’: A unique play that can be experienced through headphones
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In 2023, Bengaluru-based singer-songwriter Abhi Tambe released an Extended Play, or EP, Portal Waiting. Created during the nationwide lockdown brought about by the covid-19 pandemic, the six-track album had an end-of-the-world sort of apocalyptic feel, probably stemming from the collective anxiety and panic felt globally at the time.
Portal Waiting wasn't just released as an EP but also as a play, written, directed and performed by Tambe himself. The solo immersive performance fuses theatre, sound and live music, and is experienced through headphones. It has been nominated in four categories, including Best Play and Best Director, at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards 2025.
The nominated plays will be showcased in Delhi between 13 and 20 March. Tambe, who had never directed a theatre performance before Portal Waiting, confesses that he was only attempting to present his EP in a different way. That’s when he hit upon the idea of turning it into a play.
“It's not just a set of songs but a narrative about a protagonist, who’s going through a journey. It was only when I was getting ready to release the EP that I started wondering about ways of performing it. A set of friends encouraged me to think along non-stereotypical ways," he elaborates.
Also read: Lounge Loves: SNAX, ‘Kalari’ and more A podcast or a radio show were some of the other ideas Tambe contemplated, before putting pen to paper and “messing around with some dialogues and sound design while listening to it on headphones." That is how the idea of the play took shape. During the performance, the audience is introduced to three characters. The first is the Musician, who is stuck in his studio during the pandemic, and is
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